


the chaos of stars

by storiesofchaos



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Astronomer!Keith, Biphobia, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Homophobia, I'm Bad At Tagging, Keith does taekwondo because why not, Lots of it, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, actor!lance, my weakness lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2018-10-17 17:00:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10598292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiesofchaos/pseuds/storiesofchaos
Summary: "Come, gentle night; come, loving, black-browed night;Give me my Romeo; and, when I shall die,Take him and cut him out in little stars,And he will make the face of heaven so fineThat all the world will be in love with night..."In which a confident actor and a struggling astronomer cross paths.





	1. "oh, i am fortune's fool!"

**Author's Note:**

> whoops an au no one needs nor wants

 

 

 

> _“Stars are beautiful, but they must not take an active part in anything, they must just look on forever. It is a punishment put on them for something they did so long ago that no star now knows what it was.”_

 

When Keith first truly saw him, it was during the school’s production of _Our Town_. The students were forced to be in the auditorium watching it, and Keith only saw this as an opportunity to get out of gym class. Otherwise, he was already bored. That was, until _he_ showed up on the school stage. The stupid, arrogant, Cuban boy who insisted on being rivals with Keith and never ceased to annoy him. Except, this was the ironic part. He was so different up there, so _good_ even, playing the part of George. The light bright light shone on him rather beautifully compared to everyone else, and you could tell he owned the stage and that he loved it.

And even though Keith maybe, probably enjoyed the play, it still didn’t make Lance any less of an asshole the next day. Keith gave up on trying to compliment him on the production. But the play still gave him a stroke of inspiration and soon enough, he was signing up to be part of tech crew in the school’s musical, _Les Miserables_. That led to him actually having to be social and people liking him more and more. Then someone overheard him sing Valijean’s Death whilst he was painting an art project, and that led to the director wanting him to play Valijean himself, as they hadn't found someone to play the part yet and the director insisted he was perfect. And then that lead to _the boy_ to be even more jealous.

In fact, the boy (whose name Keith could never remember) who had played in _Our Town_ was also looking to be Valijean. Although the director preferred Keith, the latter didn’t think he could suddenly do such an enormous part, and alas, he dropped out. He never went to see the musical, but he had no regrets. The show business just wasn’t for him.

\--

The show business however, _is_  for Lance. And he loves it. He’s now 21, in a great college, has an awesome social life _and_ playing Romeo in the school’s Romeo and Juliet production. His friend Pidge thinks he’s disgusting for wanting to take part in such a lovey, traumatic drama, but he strongly disagrees. Every since he had first watched a play of Romeo and Juliet when he was young, he had fallen in love with it and even more so with acting. Now he’s finished with day one of rehearsal and he’s ecstatic.

Whistling as he walks down the sidewalk back to the dorms that evening, he sees something in his peripheral vision that catches his eye. And oh, would he recognize that mullet anywhere. _Keith?_    _As in, Keith Kogane?_

“What are you doing here?” Lance asks the figure ahead of him. They turns around and hands in black fingerless gloves ( _W_ _ho even wears those anymore?_ Lance thinks) pull down the muffler covering the boy’s face. Lance does realize that it’s pretty cold outside in the mid-November air.

“Um….” the boy (now called Keith in Lance’s head) replies, obviously confused and nervous, “I go to school here? And I’m going to the observation deck?” He shifts the black backpack on his back and shuffles his feet, anxious to keep walking. “Who are you?”

“Who am I?” Lance asks, feeling a bit hurt. Keith raises an eyebrow. “Uh, the name’s Lance. We went to the same high school.”

“Really? Are you in my astronomy class?”

“No, I’m an actor! We were, like, rivals. You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck.”

“Oh, wait. I remember you. Valijean.” Keith’s face seemed to drop a little more, but Lance was oblivious as usual.

“Yup, all thanks to you dropping out.”

“Whatever. Wasn’t for me. Anyways, I would love to keep up the reunion, but I really don’t have all night.” Keith replied, slowly backing away.

“Wait! Can I come with you?” Lance asked. He wasn’t really sure why he wanted to go stargaze with this boy, and he knew he had an essay to write, but for some reason he wasn’t ready to leave quite yet. Keith’s eyebrows furrowed even more.

“Um, I guess? Anyone can come up to the deck. As long as you’re quiet, I have a lot of observing to do tonight.”

\--

Lance wasn’t quiet. In fact, he was quite the opposite. First he asked what type of telescope Keith was using, then how in the world he knew which stars were which, complained about how cold is was and how he had no idea what to write for his language arts paper, then proceeded to tell Keith the day’s horoscopes because that was the only space related thing he knew anything about, talked about his role of Romeo, and then chattered on about his day. Keith just tried to ignore him all through this, but it was getting quite annoying when he was trying to position the telescope just right.

“Do you ever shut up?” Keith finally asked, glaring over at Lance. The latter was lying on his back with his arms folded behind his head, on knee propped up on the other.

“Of course not. It’s part of my charm as they say.”

“Yeah, you and who else,” Keith muttered back, earning him a scoff in retort. Although, it was still quite a beautiful night. The rooftop observation deck was far away from the hustle and bustle of the college, and down below they could see the thick forest, the glittering stars above. It was a perfect, clear sky, the velvety backdrop setting the scene for its guests, the occasional wink of a plane coming into view. Keith sat back on his blanket he had brought with him to sit on and sighed. He quickly finished his notes and turned towards Lance next to him.

“So, Romeo huh? Sounds a bit lame.”

“Hey, don’t hate on Romeo and Juliet! It’s beautiful play about true love.” Keith scoffed.

“True love alright,” he muttered. Now it was Lance’s turn to gasp.

“Does thou not believe in true love, thou peasant? Do not fear, for I know thou wilt find thy beloved someday.” Lance stabbed Keith in the arm with his finger. Keith blushed slightly but rolled his eyes.

“Can you stop talking like that? It’s getting annoying.”

“Oh, well you’re one to talk. What is it and space anyways? Keith blinked and stood up. He opened his arms wide.

“For you, the old wooden boards and dusty red curtains are your stage. For me, my stage is the world. I like to think that we’re all just actors, and the stars are the audience, watching from above. And space is so amazing in general, how could you not like it?” By this point, Keith was pacing back and forth, arms gesturing wildly. “Like, there’s the supermoon in a few days. And we won’t see it again until 2034! It’s going to be at perigee, which makes it the closest to Earth as it can get. It’s going to be so much brighter and bigger than usual, and that’s just so cool! All the time there are orbiting moons and planets, stars dying and being born, who knows what inhabited galaxies unfound--!” Keith suddenly stopped and remembered his audience. Lance was staring up at him with an eyebrow cocked, looking amused and impressed at the same time.

“Talkative much?”

“Only about topics I like,” Keith replied sullenly, plopping back down on the blanket. “Why were you here again?” Now it’s Lance’s turn to flush. Keith’s eyes look even brighter out in the moonlight, big, dark eyes boring into Lance’s.

“Oh. Um. I’m not really sure if I’m being honest. Procrastination probably. But this was nice.” Keith looks away and shrugs.

“Yeah. Sure. I guess.” This brings a wide grin back to Lance’s face.

“So you’re admitting you liked hanging out with me? Keith rolled his eyes again.

“There was no ‘hanging’ involved. You were just a nuisance.” But Lance can see he has a small smile lifting up his lips a bit. Lance starts to stand up and stretch. He hadn’t realized he had been sitting that long, but it has been a little over an hour.

Lance looked up at the sky, and probably for the first time since he was a little boy, saw how beautiful it was. When you're a struggling kid in college who barely has enough time to eat, you don't get much of a chance to do simple things like this, and it never crosses his mind. But looking up at the night now, he made a promise to himself that he would look up and revel in Earth's beauty as much as possible. It's a truly wondrous thing, the earth and space. Lance smiled and turned towards his companion.

“So do you maybe wanna- oh shit.” At that moment, of course something had to go wrong. It was going too well, of _course_ fate had to ruin it. For Lance had accidentally stepped on Keith’s astronomy notes and tracked whatever he had on the bottom of his shoe (which happened to be quite a lot of mud as it had rained earlier that day) onto the meticulously recorded data. Keith froze. And then went into panic mode.

“I needed those for class tomorrow! We had loads of time for this assignment but this was the only opportunity I had and I was so relieved I finally had my notes but then-” Lance was hastily grabbing at the notes and trying to wipe them off while Keith breathed in deeply.

“I am so, so sorry, oh my god.” Keith shook his head as Lance handed him his notes apologetically. Keith gave a big sigh.

“Well- It’s too late now to redo them as it took so long to even _find_ this constellation, but um, I’ll figure this out. I’ll remember what I can and use what I can see to put it on some new paper. It was my fault anyways, I left them out.”

“Do you want me to-”

“Just- Just go.” Keith had closed his eyes. “It’s been a long day.” Lance fiddled with his hands for a bit, but then just quickly left, knocking into Keith’s telescope along the way. Keith cringed and sat back on the ground, head hung low.

\--

“I fucked up real bad, Hunk,” Lance groaned face down into his pillow.

“Like usual,” Pidge replied, tapping away at their laptop. Which resulted in a pillow being thrown at them. All three of them were in Lance and Hunk’s dorm; Lance having an existential crisis after telling them the night’s adventures, Hunk doing homework, and Pidge doing god knows what.

Lance always thought he knew what he was doing, always had a plan. And even if the plan didn’t work, he could easily snap back like a rubber band, on to try a new tactic. But Keith, Keith was a whole new subject. Up until that evening, everything was fine. And now what? Why did the entrance of Keith into his life make the sky fall down? Lance knew he was exaggerating, but things like this normally didn’t happen to him. All this, for what? A boy with a mullet and an attitude that he started talking to again for the first time in years?

Lance knew that he had pretended to hate Keith back then. He really didn’t.

He was always one to believe in love, always had. Love came easy to him, he was quick to trust, quick to fall. He grew up surrounded by a loving family, loyal friends. He watched romcoms and read romance novels, he performed plays about true love. It was like second nature to him. He _felt_ like he understood it. And, you know,  _maybe_ he had been sort-of interested in Keith, but wasn't he interested in anyone who cared to look his way? Usually potential love interests weren't this hard on the brain though, so why was this different? 

“Lance? Lance!” Hunk’s repeatedly saying his name finally got his attention. “Are you okay, buddy?” he asked as Lance just groaned into the pillow again. Pidge sighed and turned towards Lance.

“Hey. Accidents happen and yeah, he’s probably pissed but I would be too. Remember that time you somehow dropped my very important hard drive in the toilet? Yeah, there was no saving that.” Lance grinned sheepishly and scratched his head. “But maybe he’ll forgive you, unless of course he’s the kind of person that holds grudges for a millennia, which he certainly could be. But you could at least try, right?” Lance rolled over on his bed to instead stare up at the ceiling.

“Yeah, okay. Maybe I’ll try that.” Hunk beamed while Pidge just rolled their eyes and went back to whatever was on the laptop.

“Great! I’m tired of your moping. Let’s make you some cookies to fix this night up," Hunk exclaimed, dragging Lance off the bed as the latter lit up at the mention of Hunk's delicacies. 

Lance believed everything would be okay again.

 

 


	2. "lord, what fools these mortals be!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait! i promise chapters will come quicker now, it's just been a very busy two months.

> _“My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.”_

 

Keith was late. Again. It's not that he _wanted_ to get in trouble with his scary trigonometry teacher, oh no, her stern and heavy gaze could flatten you to the ground. He tried to be to class on time, he really did, he just couldn't prevent it. He figured it didn't help that he usually stayed up until the early hours of the morning on the observation deck, although he told himself that it was part of his schoolwork.

But now he kind of regretted it, as he pounded his way down the nearly empty hallway that was way too bright for this early in the morning, exactly 47 minutes late to class. He wouldn’t even have bothered to come at this point, if not for the fact that midterms were coming up, and he was determined to pass and not get kicked out of a university. For the second time. Oops?

He whipped out his phone, quickly checking the time again. _Shit_. If the professor wasn’t scary enough, entering the huge lecture hall whilst everyone stares at you sure is. So lost in his misfortune, he didn’t even hear that there was now more than one pair of feet coming down the hallway. He didn’t know this in fact, until his body rammed into a solid object coming right at him.

“Oof!” he ungracefully said as he fell back on his butt, bag falling off his shoulder and his big schoolbook falling open. He saw a tanned hand appear in front of him and he took it. Thinking this day couldn’t get any worse, he pulled himself up with the help of the stranger. But alas, he found that it wasn’t a stranger. No, in fact, it was _Lance_ , the guy that kept him company on the observation deck a few days ago. And then proceeded to ruin his notes. Yeah, gotta remember that.

“Uh, you okay, dude? Looks like you fell pretty hard. I’m sorry about that by the wa-- Keith?!” Lance screeched. Keith realized he was still holding Lance’s hand, and quickly let it go, jumping backwards.

“Umm, yup that’s me, haha….” he replied awkwardly, ruffling his hair. Lance tried to apologize again, but he zoned out, rather, choosing to look past the bumbling boy and trying to figure out if it was even worth going to class now. Lance was now picking up his fallen bag and book.

“Well this isn’t how those cliche, one-person-knocks-into-someone-and-latter-helps-pick-their-books-up-which-later-results-in-romance tropes are supposed to go.”

“W-what?” Keith looked over, confused. Lance was grinning up at him, even if it was a bit guilty still. “Uh, yeah, I suppose not?” Lance handed his school things back to him and Keith nodded in thanks. There was an awkward pause, where the boys just stood there, both frantically thinking yet not knowing what to say.

“Do you...maybe want to get something to eat, or….you know, as an apology meal?” Lance tried, keeping his head lowered.

“Well I mean, I do have school to go to….”

“Oh! Yes of course, you should go to that, yes okay, that’s fine.”

“....but it’s nearly over anyways, so what the hell?” Lance’s grin grew. This guy sure smiled a lot.

“So, yeah? Yes? Okay! Cool!” Lance was jumping like an overexcited puppy.

“I mean, I haven’t had breakfast yet anyways, so…”

“Let’s go!” Lance said, pulling Keith towards the math hall exit. He felt he might regret this impulsive decision. As usual.

\--

Okay. So he was in Lance’s tiny car. Okay, cool. There are a million things that could go wrong. But most likely won’t happen. So don’t worry, right? Yes, _totally_ fine.

Well, except Lance playing Beyonce the whole ride and annoying the hell out of him.

“Are you serious? I will actually get out of the car right now if you keep playing Crazy In Love,” Keith crossed his arms and sulked.

“Sorry that you don’t appreciate good music, grumpy pants. What do you happen to listen to, country music or something?” Keith gasped, planting a hand over his heart.

“How dare you accuse me of such an act!” Keith grimaced and looked away. “Okay, _maybe_ a little bit, just sometimes. I was raised on it so I kind of have to like it.” Lance laughed, looking over at Keith.

“What did you come from, a family of Texan cowboys?” Keith went awkwardly quiet and Lance coughed, trying to salvage the conversation. “Would you like to change the music?” Keith smiled a little.

“Nah. I’ll just have to wait another time to show you the wonders of our Lord and Savior Gerard Way.” Lance nearly choked on his gum.

“Of _course_ you’re emo, with that hair, what else would you be?”

“Hey!”

“Joking, joking, I don’t mind a little bit of MCR now and then either, just don’t tell Pidge though, they would never let that go.” Keith looked over, confused.

“Pidge?” Lance shifted his hands on the steering wheel.

“Yeah, they’re one of my best pals. A little extreme and scary sometimes, but is actually a tiny child. You would like them!”

“Are you implying that I’m extreme and scary? Or that I’m a child?”

“Uh...a little bit scary….Um well, if anything, I’m the child since I’m clumsy af.”

“Did you just say ‘af’ out loud? Who does that?”

“Um, me?” Keith scoffed and raised an eyebrow.

“Actually, I would agree, as you seem to be the type that makes those “WHO DID THIS” memes unironically and watch ‘try not to dab’ challenges on YouTube.” As if on cue, Lance started dabbing and the car started swerving. Keith yelled, trying to grab for the steering wheel. By the time Lance had the car back under control, they had pulled into the iHop parking lot, Lance somehow still managing to park perfectly outside the building. Keith was pressed against the back of his seat, windblown. Lance smirked as he opened his car door.

“I know what I’m doing. Don’t worry, buttercup.” Keith scrunched his nose and just got out, brushing the back of his skinny jeans as he went.

“ _Sure_ you do. But we still nearly died.” They bickered over this the whole way into the restaurant, and didn’t stop even as their waitress sat them down in a booth by the window. Lance chattered the whole 10 minutes it took as they looked at their menus, Keith rolling his eyes for the millionth time when Lance ordered practically everything on the menu. Soon enough, Keith had gotten his eggs and some plain pancakes whilst Lance immediately scarfed down his large serving of chocolate chip pancakes with multiple bacon strips. Keith raised his brows. Lance took a huge gulp and looked up.

“What? I’m hungry, man! I didn’t get to eat breakfast either.”

“And why’s that?”

“Stayed up late, the usual.” Keith nodded and set down his fork.

“I understand. Schoolwork and all that. I stayed up all night finishing a paper and stargazing.”

“Well if you count Final Fantasy XV as schoolwork, then by all means, I agree.” Keith nearly slammed his face on the table.

“ _Wow_ you annoy me so much…” Lance stuck his tongue out as Keith reached for his glass of orange juice.

“That’s not true, you know you-- aaAAA!!” Lance suddenly yelled pushing back his seat. For Keith had accidentally knocked his o.j. all over Lance’s lap. Keith sat rigid for a few seconds, before his brain unfroze and he fumbled with grabbing some napkins from the table.

“Oh god, I am so, so sorry,” Keith apologized breathlessly, Lance scrubbing at his jeans in vain. He gave Keith a small smile.

“Hey, at least we’re even now, right?” Keith crossed his arms.

“Really? I’m not sure we are. You still made me fall this morning, don’t you forget.” Lance smiled even wider and mocked sorrow.

“Oh no, I’m exposed,” he exclaimed dramatically, stained pants forgotten. “I’ll make it up to you,” They both awkwardly smiled at each other, not really sure what else to say. They broke their reverie when the waitress came back with their checks.

“Here are your checks, sirs, thank you for your business,” she told them, giving them each a copy.

“No, thank _you_ ,” Lance grinned at her, winking. Keith paled. She wasn’t amused however, and just grimaced as she took their dirty plates back to the kitchen.

“Oh, I thought….Nevermind….” Keith stammered, blushing a bit and looking down at the table. Lance just tilt his head in confusion.

“You okay dude? She’s hot, sorry you didn’t get a chance.” Keith’s expression suddenly got very dark.

“Like you had any better chance, at least I don’t hopelessly go try and make a fool of myself.” Lance was actually offended this time, pushing back his chair and getting ready to stand up.

“Shut the hell up, Mullet,” Lance glared, throwing his bill down on the table. Hope you had a pleasant breakfast,” he spat. Keith grimaced back as Lance stalked out of the restaurant.

“That jerk, he left me to pay his meal too,” Keith sighed deeply. How come he always messed these things up? This was why he didn’t have any friends except for Shiro.

After angrily paying for both meals with his limited funds, he left too. Outside, the air was crisp and Keith tried desperately to wrap himself in his short jacket. _Lance’s jacket is probably very warm_ , he thought. He shook his head quickly, trying to rid his brain of such thoughts. If this were the Sims 4, Lance’s relationship bar with him would be full red. He swiftly walked to his car, entirely prepared to dive back into his classes.

\--

At 9 pm, Keith went up to the observation deck to meet with his new astronomy partner so they could do their project together. They were already waiting for him, sat on a blanket and tapping on their computer keyboard.

“Hey, Keith!” they waved, pushing up their round glasses with the other hand. Keith plopped down next to them and got out his notes.

“Hi, Pidge,” Keith smiled at them, glad to have another human interaction today that will not make him think of this morning. They worked on their project for a while, Keith starting to yawn a bit near the end. Then a loud noise woke him right back up; it was Pidge’s phone blasting some song in Spanish. Pidge rolled their eyes.

“Sorry about this, it’s Lance,” they explained, picking it up. Keith’s eyes grew wide, but he tried to ignore it. Surely this would be a different Lance Pidge knew, right? “Hey, shithead,” Pidge started talking to this Lance and Keith tried hard to just keep working. “ _No_ , I didn’t get your stupid face masks yet, I’m a little busy if you recall. _Yes_ , I know you need to look gorgeous for the play, Romeo, but I can’t do _everything_ for you,” Keith could sense the sarcasm in that voice and knew that he and Pidge would get along swell. The latter ended the chat soon after and got back to working.

However, he had noticed something else in that phone call, and he remembered Lance telling him how he was Romeo in the school’s play. But for his sanity’s sake, he hoped and prayed that it happened to be a different Lance. And looking back at this morning (which was hard as he had already repressed those memories), he recalled Lance telling him about a Pidge...and he didn’t think there were many Pidge’s in the world. Keith actually facepalmed this time.

“You know what, I’m done with this shit,” he said mumbled exasperatedly, starting to pack up. “Do you mind if we finish tomorrow?” Keith asked Pidge anxiously, ready to bolt out of there. Pidge stopped writing for a moment and glanced over at him with concern.

“No, of course not. Get some rest, okay?” Keith murmured his thanks and got out of there as fast as he could.

It had been _way_ too long of a day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed xo


	3. "thy lips, those kissing cherries, tempting grow!”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly all he could see was Keith, Keith, and more Keith, and Lance couldn’t do anything but stare.

 

>  
> 
> “Philosophy [nature] is written in that great book which ever is before our eyes -- I mean the universe -- but we cannot understand it if we do not first learn the language and grasp the symbols in which it is written. The book is written in mathematical language, and the symbols are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without whose help it is impossible to comprehend a single word of it; without which one wanders in vain through a dark labyrinth.”
> 
>  

Lance angrily shoved his English Lit book into his bag at the end of class and stomped out of the hall. Ever since the _incident_ with Keith two days ago, he had been pretty pissed. It wasn’t his fault, even if something small ticks him off, it ticks him off a _lot_. He hates this trait, it's like he can't calm down, and no matter what he does it still wriggles into his mind.

He nearly ran back to his dorm, trying (and failing) to not run into people along the way. He finally got to his room, slamming the door behind him as he slid to the floor. He closed his eyes and sighed with relief. He could finally relax with a bit of videos games.

Then he heard a slight cough and opened an eye. There was Pidge staring down at him, arms crossed. Lance gulped nervously.

“H- hey, Pidge! How’s it hanging?” Pidge said nothing, which made Lance even more nervous. They were scary when they were quiet.

“Lance, you know you can’t ignore me forever,” Pidge sighed, dragging Lance up on his feet and over towards the couch. “You have to tell me what’s been wrong lately.” Lance sat on the edge of the cushion, ready to bolt when the time arose. Pidge sat down on the stool across from him. “Nothing ever really bothers recently you except for three things- family, stress, and Keith. And I’ve come to the conclusion it’s most likely Keith. Do you think you’re...confusing your emotions? And I know how you feel but I’m pretty sure he feels the same way, and--”

“Woah, woah, woah, what??” Lance screeched, eyes widening. “What! No! I hate that guy! Yeah! I do!” Pidge just get staring at him unamused.

“I didn’t even say what feeling he would feel the same about, so I’m seeing that you’re implying I thought romantic which means--”

“NOPE nope noppity nope. I’ve got homework. And stuff. You know, college stuff, bye!” Lance shouted as he walked back out the door.

“Sorry! Pidge yelled after him, “I just hate to see you so stressed over this!”

“I’m not stressed about anything,” Lance grumbled, shredding a tissue that had been in his pocket into tiny bits as he stalked down the hallway. Well, now he couldn’t go back to his dorm like he planned. The library would have to do. He walked for a while, still mumbling nonsense even though he knew Pidge couldn’t hear him, getting a few strange looks directed towards him in the hallways.

In his attempt to get out of that situation as fast as possible, he had not really been paying attention to where he was going and was now thoroughly lost. He felt like he should know his way around campus by now, yet in the nearly 3 months he’d been there he never bothered to try. He regretted it though, as he had left his phone in his bag at his dorm and had no way to contact Hunk to help him. Looking around, he assessed the situation and tried to see if there were any landmarks he recognized. There was nothing really until he noticed the gymnasium to his left. He had never gone in it before, instead opting to jog in the neighboring park.

He walked briskly over to the large building that was lit in the quickly darkening atmosphere, shivering as he regretted not bringing a coat as it was nearing the winter months. His shoes squeaked on the shiny floor of the empty gymnasium as he went inside. To the left of the building was the workout gym, but connected to the right was where he presumed they had fitness classes, due to the mirrors on all sides and the yoga mats stacked against the wall. He noticed that there was a class going on now, and, curious, he realized it was Taekwondo (knowing this of course by the fact his older sister had done it for a few years back).

He caught a flash of familiar black hair, and _no it couldn’t be_ , but peeking through the glass in the door, he saw Keith himself, hair pulled back in a _fucking ponytail_. And oh god, he couldn’t handle that. Well, he knew he had a thing for guys with a ponytail or bun that Hunk had teased him endlessly for, but he didn’t know he had it this bad. Lance felt he shouldn’t be creepy and continue to watch, but he couldn’t help it. Watching Keith move with so much strength and precision while wearing the white uniform, and _holy shit_ he’s a third degree black belt, and he suddenly got, like, 1000 times hotter.

Lance started to sweat and he shifted uncomfortably, trying to keep everything under control. He can do this. _“Or you could just leave…”_ some annoying voice said in the back of his mind. He pushed it aside and made himself feel better by telling himself he was just mildly curious to what Keith, a potential friend, gets up to. But soon enough, the class was ending and oh no, people were coming straight for the door. He awkwardly slid away before anyone could see his face and yes! he was going to escape unscafed until...oh.

Suddenly all he could see was _Keith, Keith, and more Keith_ , and Lance couldn’t do anything but stare. His dark hair was falling out of its ponytail, long strands framing his face. Eyes were wide and staring at Lance, whilst his lips were slightly parted and wet, having just taken a drink out of his water bottle. A bead of sweat was slowly trickling down the side of his face and YEESH Lance should really snap out of it before something embarrassing happens.

“Um-” Keith started to say before another person came over to Keith’s side. And damn, _he’s hot_ , Lance thought before quickly brushing the thought way. It was true though, this man was all muscles with dark eyes and a white tuft of hair that stood out amidst the rest that was black, although he looked like he smiled often. He did right then actually, shot a dazzling smile straight at Keith that the latter couldn’t help but return a warm one back, and Lance got a sinking feeling in his gut.

He got out of there before Keith had even looked back at him, heartbeat racing a mile a minute, and not for good reasons. He was so, so confused and remembered Pidge’s words from earlier- _“Do you think you’re...confusing your emotions?”_ Lance was fucked. Of course he had found Keith attractive from the get-go, I mean who wouldn’t...right? But ugh, this was why he usually stuck with girls, he _knew_ how to flirt with them, he _knew_ how to deal with his emotions toward them, and that's what he was comfortable with. His bi-ness wasn’t new to him, but as he walked in any random direction he thought would get him the farthest away from the gym, fear stuck him.

_His parents. Shit._

Lance still hadn’t come out to them, hadn’t ever really thought about it. He had remarked that certain boys were attractive, sure, but now when he thought about actually pursuing a relationship with one, it seemed so much different.

But...pursuing a relationship with Keith? What was he talking about? They were the most incompatible two people ever, and it would never work. Lance’s feet started to ache and he realized with a jolt that there were tears in his eyes. He could feel himself slowly breaking over this, and _no_ , he would not cry right here, right now.

“Lance? Lance!” he heard someone yell, footsteps pounding behind him. It was Pidge, running up behind him and hugging him tightly. “I couldn’t find you, and I wanted to make sure you’re okay…” they paused upon seeing Lance’s eyes nearly overflowing with tears. “Did something happen?” they asked anxiously, peering at his face. He just shrugged, but couldn’t contain himself anymore as the tears started rolling down his face.

\--

“Who did that happen to be?” Keith’s ‘friend’ asked as soon as Lance had rushed out of the gym. Keith found it was hard to tear his eyes away from the door that the blur named Lance had gone out of.

“Uh, what, Shiro?” he finally asked, not really paying attention. He could see Shiro giving him a knowing smile from the corner of his eye.

“I said, who was that boy who looked at you like you were-” Keith’s eyes widened and he started blushing, very noticeable on his pale skin, unfortunately.

“Oh, um, no one in particular,” he mumbled, doing his best to avoid eye contact. He knew Shiro could see right through him.

“Yeah, don’t believe you, sorry. He must be pretty special if he’s caught your eye.” Shiro raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms.

“He hasn’t cau- Just stop talking,” Keith replies, grabbing his bag and getting ready to leave. “Please? Thank you,” he says without waiting for Shiro’s answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will I ever post new chapters frequently? Who knows. Also sorry this isn't edited much!

**Author's Note:**

> My knowledge of plays and musicals is limited, so please bear with me haha. Correct me if there's anything wrong!
> 
> Thank you for reading (▰˘◡˘▰)


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